Cat crusader draws neighborhood's ire

Published: Friday, October 02, 1998

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - A woman who says she's spiritually guided to help animals in need has been ticketed for feeding wild cats in a weedy lot.

Neighbors have been complaining that Carrie Biesiot doesn't have to live with the results of her cat samaritanism: the smells, the carcasses of dead birds, the unwanted litters of kittens, the howls and snarls in the night.

Biesiot, 40, said it's her mission to feed the animals and, when she can, find them permanent homes.

She says it's cost her thousands of dollars in cat food and hundreds of hours.

"I've hocked jewelry. I've gone without," she said.

She's spent so much on the animals, she had to move from a two-bedroom apartment to a one-bedroom, then to sharing a home with friends, she said.

Animal rights advocates and neighbors say she's not doing the cats a favor.

They say she's helping keep them alive for a harsh life that often ends as road-kill along an adjacent busy street or the blades of tractors in nearby fields or in death by the elements, disease or fights with their own kind.

"It reached a point where it was really out of control," said Enrico Gradi, who lives next to the lot.

"There were dead birds everywhere. I'd find kittens in crates and boxes and barrels everywhere. They'd get into the trash, they'd cry all night, they're always getting hit by cars and tractors. ...

"It's just maddening because she drives in and feeds them and gets some sort of gratification, but she doesn't have to live with the consequences."

The six citations Biesiot was slapped with Wednesday could cost her fines, jail time or both. She said she will fight the tickets in court.

City officials said they had warned her before to stop feeding the cats, and even told her how to turn her efforts into a legal, nonprofit venture.

Biesiot, an administrative assistant at a real estate management company, said the threat of legal action is not what matters.

"They may tell me that I am no longer allowed here," she said, her voice breaking. "It's inevitable. I dread it. It will haunt me. The cats will look for me; they will look for their dinner."

She began feeding the cats three years ago, and said she missed only one day in all that time. During the period, she's placed 18 cats, including two that live with her, she said.

Her efforts have brought rising complaints from neighbors.

"It was a population explosion," said Floyd Smith, an assistant manager at the city Animal Services Division. "Neighbors say she's creating a nuisance. These cats are defecating everywhere. They're tearing up yards. I had to tell her to stop."